


The Secret of Arcadia

by segerge



Series: TASK FORCE [8]
Category: HERO Champions
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-08-18
Updated: 2016-08-18
Packaged: 2018-08-09 11:20:23
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 10,289
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7799806
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/segerge/pseuds/segerge
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>(1985) Pursuing Zorran the Artificer, TASK FORCE stumbles across a secret older than history in the depths of Antarctica.  Can they stop Zorran's real plan before that secret traps them forever?</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Secret of Arcadia

**Author's Note:**

> **warnings** : language, hidden lands in Antarctica
> 
> * * *
> 
> #### DRAMATIS PERSONAE
> 
> **Task Force (Dallas-Fort Worth supergroup)**
> 
>   * Ted Jameson (AKA Ranger), CEO of ProStar, speedster and team leader
>   * Julie Dormyer (AKA Ladyhawk), Chairman of the Board of Directors for ProStar, ninja with latent powers of temporal visualization
>   * Dr. Bob Hawkins (AKA Starforce), Research Scientist for ProStar, power-armor wearer/gadgeteer
>   * Rev. Kent Christiansen (AKA Spiritual Warrior), Associate Pastor of Carrolton Park Church, mage with a holy sword
>   * Frederick 'Bowser' Bastable (AKA Mr. Bassman), jazz artist and mutant sonic projector
>   * Zes'arou Al'Gari Vikon (AKA Sage), exiled Varanyi psionic
> 

> 
> **notable Empyreans**
> 
>   * Archon, Crown Prince, telekinetic/brick
>   * Thalia Olivetti (AKA Thelambra), pulp-era adventure photographer, mentalist/luck-based psychokinetic
>   * Eliak, security team leader, flying brick
>   * Morweina, security squad member, psionic
>   * Ashima, Chief Enforcer, psionic
>   * Tramiel, priest of the Temple of Silence
>   * Dukar, priest of the Temple of Silence
> 

> 
> **villains**
> 
>   * Zorran the Artificer, exiled Lemurian mystic
> 

> 
> **AUTHOR'S NOTE 1** : Telepathy is denoted by (( )), internal monologue by [[ ]]
> 
>  **AUTHOR'S NOTE 2** : Some familiarity with Chapter 2 of the Champions 5th Edition supplement "Hidden Lands" is helpful but not necessary to understand the setting of this story.
> 
>  **AUTHOR'S NOTE 3** : Suggested soundtrack is [Empire of Angels](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=izsjRpcgfmk) by Tom Bergersen. The first 32 seconds is Thelambra's leitmotif.
> 
> * * *

(McMurdo Station, Antarctica. Two days after the end of "Megaterak Raids Again")

(Ground crews are servicing the Gulfstream under the harsh glare of floodlights as TASK FORCE stretches their legs. Bob 'Starforce' Hawkins is in a parka, off to the side and blocking the floodlights with one hand while looking at the Aurora Australis dancing overhead. A snowball hits him)

 **Starforce** (upset): "Hey!"

(Julie 'Ladyhawk' Dormyer, also in a parka, giggles as she steps out of the nearby shadows)

 **Ladyhawk** (sultry): "You were distracted, Nerd-boy!"

 **Starforce** (annoyed): "That's not an invitation to take advantage of me!"

 **Ladyhawk** : "Says who?"

(Bob looks at Julie as if to say, 'WTF', then abruptly leans down to scoop up some snow. His throw goes wide as Julie casually dodges Bob's return fire)

 **Ladyhawk** (scooping more snow): "That's more like it!"

 **Starforce** (scooping more snow): "Stand still, Ninjette!"

 **Ladyhawk** (hitting Bob with her snowball): "Come on, Nerd-boy! How often does anyone get to have a snowball fight in late July?"

 **Starforce** (miserably missing Julie with his snowball): "I SAID, *stand* *still*!"

 **Ladyhawk** (scooping again): "You know, you could at least try to hit me with your snowballs."

 **Starforce** (beat, scooping again): "Not baseball. Football."

 **Ladyhawk** (confused): "What?"

(Bob charges Julie, snowball still in hand)

 **Ladyhawk** (turning to run away): "Hey!"

(Bob and Julie flounder through the snow toward the Station Ops building, where Bowser 'Mr. Bassman' Bastable has been watching the snowball fight with amusement)

 **Mr. Bassman** (internal monologue): [[wait for it...]]

(Bob's pursuit of Julie has finally taken them right next to Station Ops. With an expertly-placed Sonic Blast, Bowser causes a large slab of snow to detach itself from the roof, slide off, and bury both Bob and Julie)

(beat, then both Bob and Julie unbury themselves from the impromptu snowdrift)

 **Starforce** (spluttering, to Bowser): "NO FAIR! I HAD HER!!"

 **Ladyhawk** (spluttering, to Bowser): "WHOSE SIDE ARE YOU ON ANYWAY?!?"

 **Mr. Bassman** (smiling): "I win, mon!"

(smiling, he starts walking back to the Gulfstream. Bob throws his snowball at his back. He misses)

* * *

(Operations Building, McMurdo Station. Seven hours later)

 **Sage** : "It has been three Earth days since Zorran escaped us in Tokyo. That is more than enough time for him to prepare for us."

 **Ladyhawk** : "Vikon, I'm the only pilot we have! I couldn't have flown the entire way from there to here without getting SOME sleep!"

 **Ranger** (to Vikon): "The crew rest in both Brisbane and here was necessary."

 **Sage** : "Hopefully that sentence won't be on our tombstones."

 **Mr. Bassman** (to Vikon): "Relax, mon! You worry too much!"

 **Spiritual Warrior** (to Vikon): "God... excuse me, Yinda'r... is with us."

 **Ranger** : "Guys, can we get started here?"

(TASK FORCE settles down for the briefing)

 **Ranger** : "I know we don't have much, but let's share what we have. Starforce, you're up."

 **Starforce** (standing): "Radio transmissions on known Lemurian frequencies using known Lemurian ciphers were monitored last week from Dallas after our impromptu war with VIPER and from Tokyo three days ago after the incident with Megaterak. The transmissions intersected HERE..." (pointing at the slide with a map of Antarctica) "at latitude 74 degrees south, longitude 55 degrees east. The coordinates are approximately 900 miles north of the South Pole, in largely-unexplored land claimed by Australia." (beat) "This concludes what we currently know about the target."

 **Ranger** : "Environmental conditions which we can expect?"

 **Starforce** : "The glacial plain in the target area is approximately 9,000 feet above sea level, so expect to have issues with thin air. Also, please keep in mind that due to the lack of precipitation and low humidity Antarctica is technically considered to be a desert. If hypothermia doesn't get us, dehydration will."

 **Sage** (sarcastically): "That's a pleasant thought. Why couldn't Zorran have located his master headquarters in the Caribbean?"

 **Mr. Bassman** : "You get to ask him later today, mon! Look on the bright side."

 **Sage** : "I would prefer not to."

 **Ranger** (to Sage): "Hush." (to Starforce) "Status of the sensor and display mods to the Gulfstream?"

 **Starforce** : "Installed in the cockpit and pass all diagnostics."

 **Ranger** (to Ladyhawk): "Are we ready to go?"

 **Ladyhawk** : "Flight plan is filed, the Gulfstream is fueled. Should we run into problems, our abort option is Amundsen-Scott Station at the South Pole."

 **Ranger** : "Good."

(tense pause, held gaze)

 **Ranger** (continuing): "Wheels up in 60. Let's go."

* * *

(Pegasus Ice Runway, McMurdo Station, Antarctica. One hour later)

(the Gulfstream IV taxis to the southern end of the runway, engines idling and running lights blinking)

 **Radio** : "ProStar 317, you are cleared for takeoff on runway 33. Hold course until you reach flight level 150, then turn left onto your flight plan."

 **Ladyhawk** (into headset): "Copy that, McMurdo."

(tense pause as she looks at Bob in the co-pilot's seat)

 **Ladyhawk** (to Bob): "Let's kick the tires and light the fires, Nerd-boy!"

(left hand on the control yoke, she shoves the throttles against the end stops. The engines scream up to full power, and the Gulfstream begins to hurtle down the runway. TASK FORCE sinks back into their seats from the acceleration)

 **Starforce** (looking at the instrumentation): "50 knots... 75... 100... 125... Vee-one."

 **Ladyhawk** (pulling the yoke back): "Rotating."

(the front wheels lift off the ground and the nose of the Gulfstream begins to pitch up)

 **Starforce** (looking at the instrumentation): "150..."

(the Gulfstream lifts smoothly off the runway and climbs into the night sky)

 **Starforce** (flipping switch): "Gear up."

 **Ladyhawk** (smiling): "We'll make a pilot out of you yet, Nerd-boy!"

 **Starforce** : "Well, I've had quite a bit of experience watching you do this for the past two days."

(long pause, held gaze)

 **Ladyhawk** : "Time to see if your new heads-up display works, don't you think?"

 **Starforce** : "Oh, yeah. I forgot."

(he flips a few new switches at the co-pilot's station. A rasterized enhancement of the Trans-Antarctic mountain range to their left appears in Julie's windows)

 **Starforce** (apologetically): "Didn't have time to give you the same resolution I have in my mask, Ninjette. Sorry."

 **Ladyhawk** : "Don't let it happen again." (beat) "ETA to search grid?"

 **Starforce** : "Two hours."

(they look at each other again. Long pause, held gaze. Images of slightly-older versions of Bob in more futuristic cockpits drift tantalizingly close to visibiliity in Julie's mind for a moment, before she shakes her head)

 **Starforce** : "You okay?"

 **Ladyhawk** : "Yeah, I'm... fine."

(shaking her head some more, she pays attention to her instrument panel as the Gulfstream continues its climb out of McMurdo Sound)

* * *

(ProStar 317, approaching 74 south, 55 East. Two hours later)

(the HUD in front of the co-pilot's station lights up)

 **Starforce** (beat): "Huh. That's odd."

 **Ladyhawk** : "What?"

 **Starforce** : "I just picked up a HUGE contact on the holographic sensor. Dead ahead."

 **Ladyhawk** : "That's your holographic whatzis, isn't it?"

 **Starforce** : "Not *this* big!" (beat, adjusts the sensor) "It's almost like we're about to fly over a giant holographic illusion of some sort."

(Ladyhawk raises her eyebrows)

 **Ladyhawk** : "Can you mark the ground trace on my HUD? So I can orbit it and give you more time to scan it?"

 **Starforce** (tap tap tap): "Wait one..."

(a patch of the unending whiteness underneath them is suddenly cross-hatched on Ladyhawk's HUD)

 **Ladyhawk** : "Got it. I'm gonna put us into a clockwise orbit around it, Nerd-boy. You want to be aiming your sensors to starboard."

 **Starforce** (tap tap tap): "Copy that."

 **Ladyhawk** (on intercom to the cabin): "Ranger, you might want to get up here. We've found something!"

(a moment later, Ranger enters the cockpit)

 **Ranger** : "What have you found?"

 **Starforce** : "A VERY sophisticated hologram covering a large expanse of the land underneath us."

 **Ranger** : "Hiding... What?"

 **Starforce** : "Whatever it is, it's approximately 20 miles long east-to-west, and varies from four to ten miles in width."

 **Ladyhawk** : "Stand by, Nerd-boy. We're at the western end of the feature."

(the Gulfstream banks to the right. Tense pause)

 **Starforce** : "The western end appears to be the widest end of the feature. I'm now getting point sources of neutrinos and other exotic energy signatures I don't recognize."

 **Ranger** : "Can you get anything else through that field?"

 **Starforce** : "It appears to be blocking sight and mental if I'm analyzing the frequencies correctly. Let me try active radar."

(tap tap tap, then Starforce stares at the results)

 **Starforce** (absently): "Well how about that."

 **Ladyhawk** : "Turning again."

 **Ranger** (while the Gulfstream banks into an easterly heading just north of the hologram): "Mind filling in the blanks, Bob?"

 **Starforce** : "The hologram is hiding a *valley*! I'm analyzing a depth of 4,000 feet below the Antarctic plain at this end, looks like it slopes to over 5,000 feet the farther east you go."

 **Ladyhawk** : "That's impossible! There's no valley on the map here..."

 **Starforce** : "Yet here we are."

 **Ranger** : "Can you detect your holographic processor from up here?"

 **Starforce** : "Not with the strength and size of that hologram below us."

 **Ranger** : "Julie, can you put us down in that valley?"

 **Ladyhawk** : "I can fly us into it. Whether we can land safely or not depends on what we find down there."

 **Ranger** : "Work on it. Let me know when we're about to descend."

(Ranger leaves the cockpit)

 **Ladyhawk** : "Okay, Nerd-boy, calculate me a descent profile from this altitude into the valley."

 **Starforce** : "Going which way?"

 **Ladyhawk** : "Uhh... better make it east to west."

 **Starforce** : "Let me switch sensors over to autorecord and I'll get right on that."

* * *

(ProStar 317, circling 74 south, 55 east. Five minutes later)

 **Starforce** (on intercom back to the cabin): "Gentlemen, the Captain has turned on the 'Fasten Seat Belts' sign as we are about to start our descent into the weird invisible valley that doesn't exist on any official charts. Please stow any carry-on luggage you may have out in the overhead bins or underneath the seat in front of you and resume your seats while we descend into the unknown. Thank you once again for flying 'TASK FORCE Airlines'."

(Starforce shuts the intercom off)

 **Ladyhawk** (beat): "Seriously?"

 **Starforce** : "Well, *I* thought it was funny."

 **Ladyhawk** : "Are we ready to do this?"

 **Starforce** : "Fly through the middle of each box on your HUD. It's already programmed for our descent profile."

 **Ladyhawk** : "Oh."

(beat, while she lazily banks the Gulfstream through a 180 and cuts the throttle)

 **Ladyhawk** : "Oh!" (beat) "This almost makes flying *too* easy!"

 **Starforce** : "Directly adapted from what I use in my battlesuit."

 **Ladyhawk** : "And WHY isn't ProStar marketing this?"

 **Starforce** : "Uhh..."

 **Ladyhawk** : "We'll talk after the mission."

(she fiddles with the yoke and throttle some more to keep them in the middle of their descent profile)

 **Starforce** (looking at his instruments): "Descent rate nominal. Right down the middle of the flight path."

 **Ladyhawk** (tweaking the throttle some more): "We're not gonna crash into the glacier, are we?"

 **Starforce** : "We'll clear the eastern rim of the feature at about 1000 feet AGL." (beat) "I was a little paranoid about the extent of the hologram."

 **Ladyhawk** (concentrating on the HUD): "Just a bit." (beat) "How close are we?"

 **Starforce** (looking at instruments, then Lightning Calculator mode): "Two minutes out at current airspeed."

 **Ladyhawk** (absently, still looking at her HUD): "Copy that."

(tense pause as the Gulfstream continues its descent to the featureless glacier below)

 **Ladyhawk** : "It's like every instinct in my body is screaming that we're about to crash."

 **Starforce** : "I hear you. Sixty seconds to the feature."

(the next 60 seconds passes tensely as the ground swells in the cockpit window)

 **Starforce** : "1,000 feet AGL..." (beat, surprised) "...and the bottom just dropped out of the radar return. AGL now 5,900!"

 **Ladyhawk** (looking at the ground her instincts tell her that she is about to crash into): "I hope you're right, Nerd-boy."

 **Starforce** : "5,500... 5,250..."

(at the moment of impact, the swelling ground suddenly becomes a wide valley between sheer mountain cliffs in either side. There appears to be a tropical rainforest directly underneath them, verging to something more temperate towards the west)

 **Ladyhawk** (flipping switches): "Flaps 20. Nerd-boy, drop the landing gear."

 **Starforce** : "We're still over 4,000 feet AGL!"

 **Ladyhawk** : "I need the extra drag to dump speed and altitude!"

 **Starforce** (flipping switches): "On it."

(with a THUNK, the landing gear drops. The Gulfstream trembles with the added drag, and begins to fall out of the sky faster)

 **Starforce** : "Gear down and locked. See anyplace safe to land?"

 **Ladyhawk** (looking out the cockpit): "Give me a moment."

(she finally sees a straight stretch of paved road, off to the left of their current flight path and unobstructed by trees)

 **Ladyhawk** : "Got it! Hang on, this is gonna be fun..."

(she noses the Gulfstream over into more of a combat dive to get lined up with the stretch of roadway)

 **Starforce** : "Ninjette..."

 **Ladyhawk** (smiling): "Aw, live a little, Nerd-boy!"

(a shadow streaks in front of the descending Gulfstream)

 **Starforce** (shocked): "Was that a... PTERODACTYL?!?"

 **Ladyhawk** (focused on her landing strip): "Stop distracting me. There'll be time for zoology later."

(the Gulfstream wallows a bit as she yanks it onto its final heading, drops the flaps all the way, and gooses the throttle)

 **Ladyhawk** (into intercom): "Flight attendants, prepare for landing."

(Starforce looks at Ladyhawk, shocked. Ladyhawk gives him an aside glance and smiles. The trees start racing by on either side as Ladyhawk flares the Gulfstream out for landing)

 **Ladyhawk** : "Here we go."

(with a THUMP! the landing gear makes contact with the road. Ladyhawk immediately deploys thrust reversers, spools the engines up to full power, and stands on the brakes. Tense pause as the Gulfstream slows, then drifts to a stop before the road turns back into the forest around them)

 **Ladyhawk** : "Okay, Nerd-boy, done with engines. Post-flight checklist!"

 **Starforce** (grabbing two clipboards from behind him and handing one to Ladyhawk): "On it."

* * *

(ProStar 317, on the ground. Five minutes later)

(TASK FORCE exits the Gulfstream)

 **Ranger** : "Starforce?"

 **Starforce** : "My holographic processor is not to our east. That much I know for certain."

 **Ranger** : "So it's somewhere around the high tech you analyzed to our west?"

 **Starforce** : "That's where I'd go."

 **Ranger** : "Then what are we waiting for?"

 **Starforce** (levitating): "I'll scout on ahead for landing zones."

 **Ranger** : "Please and thank you!"

 **Starforce** (to Sage, gesturing between him and Ranger)): "Sage?"

 **Sage** : ((there))

 **Starforce** : ((thank you))

(Starforce streaks off to the west. Long pause)

 **Starforce** : ((holy CRAP!!))

 **Ranger** : (what?))

 **Starforce** : ((human female, being attacked by dinosaurs!))

 **Ranger** : ((LZ. NOW!!))

 **Starforce** : ((there))

 **Ranger** (to Spiritual Warrior): ((Pastor?))

 **Spiritual Warrior** : ((got it. Porting...))

(zzzzzZZZZZAP!!)

 **Spiritual Warrior** : "NOW!"

(A female, brunette, shapely, and about 6' tall with cameras, is being attacked by several Deinonychii. She's already bleeding from claw slashes)

 **Mr. Bassman** : "When did we fly into the middle of a B-movie, mon?!?"

(DEX 30. Ranger wins the roll-off with Starforce and Ladyhawk. Move-by strike against one of the Deinonychii kills it)

(also DEX 30. Starforce goes next. Electrogravitic shock CON-stuns another Deinonychus)

(also DEX 30. Ladyhawk embeds 3 shuriken into a Deinonychus for 6 BODY. The dinosaur falls back from the brunette and screams in pain, bleeding)

(DEX 29. A branch inexplicably falls from a tree over the velociraptor Ladyhawk wounded, killing it)

(DEX 26. Spiritual Warrior swings Khereviel, and another Deinonychus dies)

(DEX 25. Mr. Bassman kills the Deinonychus Starforce stunned. The knockback shoves it back into the brunette, which causes her head to impact the rock face behind the battle site. She drops to the ground, unconscious)

 **Mr. Bassman** : "Did NOT mean for that to happen, mon!"

 **Ranger** : "Is she OK?"

 **Ladyhawk** : "Dunno. We'll have to examine her."

 **Ranger** : "Pastor, take her back to the plane. See how bad she's hurt, and heal her if you can!"

 **Spiritual Warrior** : "On it."

(zzzzzZZZZZAP!!)

* * *

(ProStar 317. 5 minutes later)

/* suggested music is [the next verse](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=izsjRpcgfmk?t=0m33s) in the suggested soundtrack */

(the tall, exotic-looking brunette is sprawled out on a fully-reclined chair in the Gulfstream's cabin. Spiritual Warrior is kneeling at her side, and has just taken a hand off of her head)

 **Ranger** : "Well?"

 **Spiritual Warrior** : "Something in her wants to heal without my assistance. I'm not sure if it would have extended to her concussion, though." (stands) "She should be awake in a couple of minutes."

 **Ranger** : "Okay." (to Sage over mind-link) "Anything?"

 **Sage** (from outside via mind-link): ((she is a very powerful psionic. I cannot read her mind.))

 **Ranger** : "Telepathy?"

 **Sage** : ((and some type of psychokinesis, from what little I have been able to determine.))

 **Ranger** (beat): "Okay, then." (to Ladyhawk) "You went through her pockets. What can you tell me about her?"

 **Ladyhawk** : "Other than she's a photographer?"

 **Starforce** (muttered, looking at the photography equipment recovered with their mysterious guest): "Thank you, Captain Obvious."

 **Ladyhawk** (brief, annoyed look at Starforce): "I found an expired Italian passport from the 1950's with her photo and the name 'Thalia Olivetti' in it." (beat) "Also, she hasn't aged a day from when the passport photo was allegedly taken."

 **Starforce** (deep in thought): "Thalia Olivetti... Where have I heard that name before?"

 **Ranger** (looking at her cameras): "Those look like the cameras I found in my Dad's attic once."

 **Spiritual Warrior** : "Last time I saw a camera that old it was an antique store back home in Mankato..."

(Starforce finally makes his INT roll)

 **Starforce** (slapping his forehead): "Thalia Olivetti! The famous _National Geographic_ photographer!"

 **Ladyhawk** : "How would you know THAT, Nerd-boy?"

 **Starforce** : "50 years of _National Geographic_ magazines in MY step-parents' attic. Her best work was before World War 2."

 **Ranger** : "So why is she here in the middle of Antarctica?"

 **Starforce** : "I don't know. She went missing on an expedition to Bouvet Island sometime back in the mid-1950's, and her body was never found."

 **Spiritual Warrior** : "She seems to be in remarkably good shape for someone who has been lost for three decades."

 **Ranger** : "Ya *think*?"

 **Sage** : ((Miss Olivetti is waking up))

 **Ranger** : "A little space here, team. I don't want her to go into any more shock than she already is in."

 **Spiritual Warrior** (heading for the exit): "I'll be with Bowser and Vikon."

 **Ladyhawk** (quick on the uptake): "Nerd-boy, let's go. I need you to check out the new sensor suite up front."

 **Starforce** (confused): "But it checked out fine when we landed..."

 **Ladyhawk** (hitting Starforce and nodding to Ranger and their guest): "*Now*?"

 **Starforce** : "Oh."

(they turn and walk toward the cockpit)

 **Ladyhawk** : "Well, at least now I know how you got through your adolescence."

 **Starforce** : "Excuse me, Ninjette?"

 **Ladyhawk** : " _National Geographic_? Pictures of naked female savages?!?"

 **Starforce** (beat): "I don't get it."

 **Ladyhawk** (sighing): "No, I don't suppose you would..."

(the door to the cockpit closes behind them)

 **Female Voice** (inside Ranger's head): ((that's not what _National Geographic_ is for))

 **Ranger** : "You don't mind if we communicate verbally, Miss Olivetti?"

(Thalia begins to bolt upright in the seat)

 **Ranger** (catching her): "Whoa, there! You took a pretty bad blow to the head before we could rescue you..."

(they make eye contact. Long pause, held gaze)

 **Thelambra** (speaking, with just the barest hint of an exotic accent): "How did you know that I was a telepath?"

 **Ranger** : "My team psionic told me."

 **Thelambra** : "Oh." (beat, eyes widening in alarm) "I suppose you know everything about me, then?"

 **Ranger** : "Actually, no. Varanyi can be infuriatingly polite when it comes to reading other psionics' minds."

 **Thelambra** (almost looking relieved): "Then how did you know my name and occupation?"

 **Ranger** : "The team ninja discovered your passport..." (beat, then almost babbling) "Which lapsed more than a few decades ago, you might want to do something about that."

(Thalia laughs, a sound that makes Ranger both nervous and aroused)

 **Ranger** : "My tech specialist also recognized your name from _National Geographic_ magazines his step-parents collected."

 **Thelambra** : "Nice to know that I've been remembered." (beat, smiles) "Of course, that also means I'll have to use a different name the next time I walk among your kind."

 **Ranger** : "Excuse me?"

 **Thelambra** (looking at Ranger's arms still holding her): "You know, if you're going to keep holding me like this, you *should* introduce yourself."

 **Ranger** (starting to let go): "I'm sorry, Miss Olivetti..."

 **Thelambra** (stopping him): "Please. Call me Thelambra."

 **Ranger** (beat, eyes wide): "Call me Ted."

 **Thelambra** : "And what brings you and your friends to the valley, Ted?"

 **Ranger** : "A villain named Zorran the Artificer stole a prototype... computer... from my company and just used it to try and attack Tokyo with kaiju. We traced him to somewhere in this area of Antarctica."

 **Thelambra** (coldly): "Then you have been led on a fool's errand."

 **Ranger** (flatly): "What?"

 **Thelambra** (finally breaking Ranger's grasp, agitated): "Zorran is a Lemurian name. No Lemurian sets foot in the Valley and lives!"

 **Ranger** : "A bit harsh, don't you think?"

 **Thelambra** : "After what the Lemurians have tried to do to my people for tens of thousands of years, it's the least of what we can do!"

 **Ranger** (confused): "Thelambra? I'm missing QUITE a bit of information here..."

(the door to the cockpit flies open)

 **Starforce** (interrupting): "Boss, I'm tracking an unusual energy signature inbound..."

 **Sage** (mentally interrupting): ((Major Jameson, I am picking up multiple shielded minds. Inbound, from the west.))

(Ranger looks at Starforce, then at Thelambra)

 **Thelambra** : "Probably a search and rescue team homing in on my emergency transponder."

(shocked pause, held gaze)

 **Ranger** (to Thelambra): "Can you get up now? You need to be seen healthy and not a prisoner!"

 **Thelambra** : "Yes. Hang on..."

(with an assist from Ranger, she gets to her feet)

 **Ranger** (to Sage): ((Sage, switchboard))

(the rest of the team is included on the mind-link)

 **Ranger** : ((let ME do the talking. We don't know *near* enough about what we've just flown into))

(the rest of TASK FORCE indicates their assent as Ranger and Thelambra head toward the exit)

* * *

(Outside ProStar 317. One second later)

/* suggested music is [the next verse](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=izsjRpcgfmk?t=1m15s) in the suggested soundtrack */

(Thelambra climbs out of the Gulfstream, followed by Ranger)

 **Ranger** : ((everyone, make sure our guests can see your hands. And for God's sake, NO sudden movements!))

 **Mr. Bassman** : ((you sound rattled, boss-mon))

 **Ranger** : ((you have NO idea))

 **Spiritual Warrior** : ((if I am reading the tone of your thoughts correctly, Ted, I'm gathering the situation we currently find ourselves in is *nothing* like what we expected to find?))

 **Ranger** : ((to say the least))

 **Sage** : ((almost at the treeline. Any second now))

(what appears to be a futuristic Jeep without a top or wheels sails around the curve and comes to a sudden stop directly in front of the Gulfstream. Three of the five humans on it immediately fly off to assume flanking positions all around TASK FORCE and Thelambra. The most muscular of the humans remaining on the futuristic hovering Jeep regards Ranger as he walks up to it)

 **Muscular Human** : "Outsider!" (gestures toward Thelambra) "What have you done with our kinfolk?"

 **Ranger** : "She was being attacked by some of the native wildlife here in the valley. Our customs demand that we assist those in need of help."

 **Muscular Human** (to Thelambra): "Have you been harmed?"

 **Thelambra** : "No, Eliak. My situation is exactly as Major Jameson has explained to you."

(tense pause)

 **Eliak** : "This still does not explain the presence of outsiders here in Arcadia."

 **Ranger** : "We were in pursuit of a Lemurian criminal, wanted for crimes in our world. We had been led to believe that we would find him here."

 **Eliak** (smiling and in disbelief): "Lemurians? HERE?!?"

 **Ranger** : "We already have been told that we may have been misinformed."

(Eliak looks at the remaining person on the futuristic Jeep. Beat, then she nods)

 **Eliak** : "Morweina confirms your story as you have explained it."

 **Ranger** : "Thank you for your understanding."

 **Eliak** : "Don't thank me until King Hazor has determined what is finally to happen to all of you."

 **Ranger** : "Excuse me?"

 **Eliak** : "The Valley of Arcadia has remained a secret for 30,000 years, Major Jameson. Despite the recent advances of the outside world, it needs to *stay* that way."

 **Ranger** : "I don't understand..."

 **Eliak** : "You will, once we take you to our city and brief you." (beat, then to the rest of TASK FORCE) "You can accompany us voluntarily, or we can force you to do so. Your choice."

(tense pause)

 **Ranger** : "It would appear that we are your guests. TASK FORCE, board Eliak's vehicle."

(beat, then TASK FORCE walks slowly over to the futuristic Jeep and begins to board it. Thelambra joins them)

 **Eliak** : "A wise choice, Major Jameson."

 **Ranger** (boarding the jeep): "Only because the situation we find ourselves in is outside our current understanding. Allow us the chance to remedy that before we decide what to do next."

 **Eliak** : "Fair enough."

(the flying humans now board the futuristic Jeep. With an almost-silent electronic burbling sound, it begins to move)

 **Thelambra** (smiling, to Ranger): ((by the way, it's a grav-sled and not a futuristic hovering Jeep))

 **Ranger** (to Thelambra): ((THANK you...))

* * *

(The Valley of Arcadia. 15 minutes later)

/* suggested music is [the next verse](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=izsjRpcgfmk?t=2m05s) in the suggested soundtrack */

(the grav-sled is following the road westbound as it slowly goes uphill and the surrounding forest becomes more temperate)

 **Starforce** (to Eliak): "Are we there yet?"

 **Eliak** : "No."

 **Starforce** (beat): "Are we there yet?"

(Ladyhawk hits Starforce)

 **Ladyhawk** (to Starforce, angry): "We can't take you ANYWHERE, Nerd-boy!"

 **Sage** : "It is getting colder again."

 **Spiritual Warrior** : "Actually, it's getting more comfortable."

 **Mr. Bassman** (to Sage): "Your homeworld be like where we left the plane, mon?"

 **Sage** : "More or less."

(Thelambra has been standing next to Ranger the entire trip)

 **Thelambra** (to Ranger): ((I sense apprehension))

 **Ranger** : ((ya *think*)) (beat, sighs) ((I'm concerned for my team and what I've led us into))

 **Thelambra** : ((it will all work out. Do not be afraid))

(as the forest opens up to their right, the road curves into the opening. TASK FORCE now sees where they're heading, and their jaws drop open in amazement)

(the road which the grav-sled is taking is heading toward a massive, curving wall that appears to be made of either gold or bronze under the light of the aurora dancing overhead. A massive spire of metal and crystal dominates the wall, and appears to be the termination point of the road. Massive metal and crystal buildings can be seen on the other side of the wall underneath a network of towers which appear to provide light to the city)

 **Mr. Bassman** : "Whoa, mon!"

(the metal base of the tower dilates open before the grav-sled reaches it. It dilates shut behind them as strange lights play over the grav-sled)

 **Starforce** : "We're being scanned."

 **Ladyhawk** : "Duh."

 **Ranger** : "For anything in particular?"

 **Starforce** : "Can't tell. I only recognize broad-spectrum EM and magnetic resonance in what they're hitting us with."

 **Ranger** : "Are we in any danger?"

 **Starforce** : "I don't believe so."

(the wall in front of them dilates, and the grav-sled accelerates out of the tower. TASK FORCE looks around as the grav sled enters the city. Extensive gardens and parks share the cityscape with the impressive-looking buildings and light-towers, giving it an open and airy feel)

 **Starforce** (breathed): "Holy. Crap!"

 **Sage** : "A little advanced for your species, if I do say so myself."

(Ladyhawk is looking at Staforce's expression of sheer amazement as they head deeper into the city)

 **Ladyhawk** (to Starforce): "I'm guessing your small town in Indiana didn't look anything like this?"

 **Starforce** (beat, still looking around): "Uh, yeah!"

(the grav-sled plunges further into the city. The streets are wide and lined with trees, occasionally opening up into plazas filled with sculptures or exotic-looking fountains)

 **Ladyhawk** (pointing off to their left at a huge building off in the distance): "What's with the pyramid?"

 **Starforce** : "It's called a ziggurat, Ninjette."

 **Morweina** : "It is the Temple of Silence. Our most holiest place, where those of our kind who tire of their existence here can explore the limitless possibilities of the mind."

 **Ranger** (to Eliak): "Where are you taking us?"

 **Eliak** : "To the palace, in the center of the city. The Crown Prince wishes to discuss your presence here in Arcadia."

 **Spiritual Warrior** : "What will become of us?"

 **Eliak** : "That will be for the Crown Prince to decide."

 **Ladyhawk** : "At least we're not prisoners."

 **Ranger** : "Yet."

 **Thelambra** : ((You worry too much, Ted! The Crown Prince has walked among your people recently. For him to take an interest in your team is a good thing.)) (beat) ((I told you everything was going to work out))

(the grav-sled speeds on deeper into the city)

* * *

(Palace of the Empyreans, City of Gold, Valley of Arcadia. Half an hour later)

(TASK FORCE is ushered into what appears to be a magnificent throne room of some sort. A tall, almost impossibly-muscular human in a white jumpsuit and blue cape strides into the room in front of them)

 **Muscular Man** : "My father the king has asked me to talk with you concerning your mission here."

 ****(Starforce's eyes widen, mostly because he just made his 'KS: The Superhuman World' roll)

 **Starforce** : ((oh my God. That's the superhero Archon!!))

 **Ladyhawk** : ((who?))

 **Starforce** : ((member of the Sentinels in the 1970's. Said he was a mutant))

 **Ranger** : ((Craig fought alongside him a couple of times back in the day)) (verbally) "Weren't you a superhero back in the '70's?"

 **Archon** : "Yes, I was." (beat) "You're Craig's brother, right? The one who was going to West Point?"

 **Ranger** : "Yes."

 **Archon** : "Your brother was a valiant warrior. He may have been a bit too headstrong, but I wouldn't let anyone else have my back in a desperate fight."

 **Ranger** : "Craig is missed. Trust me on this."

(Archon smiles sadly. He walks down the lineup of TASK FORCE heroes until he reaches Sage)

 **Archon** (to Sage, coldly): "Your race tried to invade our planet last year."

 **Sage** (coldly): "And I am exiled here for the sin of warning them NOT to. Your point?" /* "Reign of the Destroyer" */

(tense pause, held gaze)

 **Archon** : "They may try again."

 **Sage** : "Then they will lose again. Maybe not with the ease that Doctor Destroyer vanquished my brother and our Battle Line, but they will."

(another tense pause. Archon finishes his review of TASK FORCE, then turns around and paces in the opposite direction of his initial review)

 **Archon** : "Do any of you know where you are?"

 **Starforce** : "Antarctica, but that's not important right now."

(Ladyhawk elbows Starforce)

 **Archon** (smiling): "I liked that movie."

(Starforce looks at Ladyhawk and sticks his tongue out)

 **Archon** : "Some background, then." (beat, to Sage) "What do you know of the Progenitors, Varanyi?"

 **Sage** : "Children's fairy tales, mostly."

 **Archon** : "According to Historian Garon, the Progenitors were as real as you or I am right now!"

(awkward pause. Ranger and Ladyhawk both look at Starforce)

 **Starforce** : "Don't look at me. They're not a known alien race listed in the PRIMUS Superhuman Survey."

 **Archon** : "Relax, Dr. Hawkins. The Progenitors exist as legends or..." (beat, aside glance at Sage) "...fairy tales in the histories of most sophonts across the Galaxy."

 **Ranger** : "So who are the Progenitors to the people of this valley?"

 **Archon** : "Our creators, as it were."

(shocked pause, held gaze)

 **Archon** (continuing): "Two million years ago, the Progenitors first landed on this world in the eastern part of the continent you would eventually come to know of as Africa. They performed extensive experiments on the various species of proto-humans they discovered at that time, gradually altering the human genome, boosting intelligence, and enhancing the propensity for favorable mutations over the course of hundreds of visits over the next million and a half years."

 **Starforce** (numb): "Humanity was a lab experiment?"

 **Archon** : "You weren't. We were."

 **Ranger** : "What do you mean?"

 **Archon** : "The final phase of the Progenitor's experiment took place 500,000 years ago. Twelve specimens of Homo Erectus found in their nature preserve in Africa were accelerated to the end state of human evolution. They were our first generation."

 **Ladyhawk** : "Of what?"

 **Archon** : "The ultimate end-state of human evolution. The Empyreans."

(shocked pause, held gaze)

 **Starforce** (obnoxiously): "You DO realize that some of us still go to Church?"

 **Archon** : "I am not denying the influence of powers from beyond our plane of reality, Dr. Hawkins. Or for that matter the influence of sin and redemption. I'm merely pointing out that your prehistory isn't exactly what you think it is."

 **Spiritual Warrior** (to Starforce): ((thank you))

 **Archon** : "It only took the First Generation a few thousand years to advance to the point it took the rest of Humanity half a million years to reach. Over the ages, our knowledge grew rapidly compared to our kin which became Homo Sapiens. Our first king, Amlin, decided for the benefit of the rest of Humanity that we should be secluded on a remote subcontinent, there to observe our brethren catch up to us."

 **Spiritual Warrior** : "Where was that?"

 **Archon** : "East of Australia. The remains of that subcontinent are now known as New Zealand to modern Humanity."

 **Ranger** (abruptly): "Who are the Lemurians to the Empyreans?"

 **Archon** : "Mortal enemies." (beat) "Nearly a hundred millenia ago, an abomination fell from the stars to Earth in the land now known as Java. He accelerated the evolution of the proto-humans he found there, much more crudely than the Progenitors had accelerated us Empyreans."

 **Sage** : "Then what?"

 **Archon** : "Over 70,000 years ago, the Lemurians rose up against their Creator as it sought to destroy the Empyreans. The resulting cataclysm nearly drove Humanity to extinction, and destroyed the lands we Empyreans called our home."

 **Ranger** : "And that's when you moved here?"

 **Archon** : "There was an intermediate stop in the continent you now know as South America, near modern-day Lake Titicata if I recall correctly. The Lemurian Dalsith the Unspeakable destroyed it in combat with King Vondarien attempting to bring the Qliphotic entity Sharna-Gorak the Destroyer into our plane of reality."

 **Mr. Bassman** : "And THEN you moved to Antarctica!"

 **Archon** : "Yes, finally."

(awkward pause)

 **Ranger** : "Why continue to hide from us?"

 **Archon** : "What, exactly, do you think the reaction would be from your fellow humans if they found themselves living alongside an immortal and superpowered offshoot of themselves?"

(very awkward pause)

 **Archon** : "The Facade has been maintained by royal edict of my father Hazor for four thousand years." (beat) "Even with the rise of superhumans in modern Human society, I have yet to see anything to question the wisdom of my father's decision."

 **Ranger** : "So what is to become of us?"

 **Archon** : "We cannot allow you -- or any of your team, Major Jameson -- to leave."

 **Ranger** (protesting): "But surely the Sentinels knew your true origin when you were a member, didn't they?"

 **Archon** : "They did. So did the Justice Squadron and the Fabulous Five."

 **Ranger** : "Surely you can trust us to keep your secret, too!"

 **Archon** : "That is not a chance my father is willling to take. I'm sorry"

(shocked pause, held gaze)

 **Archon** (sweeping his arms around him): "The Valley of Arcadia can be comfortable for the rest of your mortal existence." (beat, to Ranger) "Certainly, Thelambra seems to be attracted to you, Major."

 **Ranger** (uncomfortable): "Uhh... Okay."

 **Archon** (to Starforce and Ladyhawk): "And the two of you are attracted to each other."

 **Ladyhawk** (angry): "Like HELL I am!"

 **Starforce** (coldly): "What Ninjette said."

 **Archon** (smiling): "Right."

 **Ranger** (hotly): "At least let us discuss it among ourselves..."

 **Archon** (turning to leave): "What is there to discuss?"

(Archon leaves the Throne Room. Tense pause, as Eliak leads a squad to surround TASK FORCE)

 **Eliak** : "Please, Major Jameson. Don't make a scene."

 **Ranger** (beat): "Like I have a choice in the matter."

(Eliak and his squad escort TASK FORCE from the Throne Room while Thelambra watches helplessly)

* * *

(The City of Gold. One hour later)

(Ladyhawk and Starforce are in a luxuriously-furnished and spacious apartment)

 **Ladyhawk** (angry): "I can't BELIEVE they're making us *live* together!"

 **Starforce** : "That makes two of us." (looks around) "I suppose that now I'm settled in I can go exploring like the others."

 **Ladyhawk** : "What do you mean?"

 **Starforce** : "Kent is meeting with the historian that Archon mentioned, and Bowser's hanging with an Empyrean musician named Jubal." (beat) "Perhaps he has a piano."

 **Ladyhawk** : "You're just going to ACCEPT that we can never leave here again?"

 **Starforce** : "I am attempting to make the best of our current situation. Are you going to be like this for the rest of our lives?"

(Ladyhawk's jaw drops open in shock)

 **Starforce** : "We don't have to love each other, Julie. All we have to do is keep from killing each other. Do you think you can manage *that*?"

(Ladyhawk's eyes flare with anger. Furious, she stomps out of their apartment)

(she walks through the city for several minutes as the Aurora Australis flickers overhead, paying no attention to the parks, plazas, and scultures she is wandering past. She finally ends up close to the massive ziggurat they had all noticed on their initial entry into the city)

 **Ladyhawk** (internal monologue): [[what did the Empyreans call this thing? The Temple of Silence?]]

(it's at that moment, looking at the Temple of Silence, that her Danger Sense goes off. Hard enough to drive her to her knees. She clutches her head for a moment before slowly getting back to her feet)

 **Ladyhawk** (internal monologue while looking at the Temple): [[something about that place is very, VERY wrong]]

(tense pause, then she hurries back through the city away from the Temple)

* * *

(Near the Temple of Silence. One hour later)

(Sage is sitting under a tree across the plaza from the Temple's entrance. Ladyhawk fidgets next to him)

 **Sage** : "Any Empyreans who are in that building will no doubt view my probe as an intrusion."

 **Ladyhawk** : "Just humor me, okay?"

 **Sage** (closing his eyes): "It would help if I knew what I was looking for."

 **Ladyhawk** : "If I did, I would have *told* you! All I know is that something is VERY wrong in or about that building."

 **Sage** : "Hush."

(tense pause. Ladyhawk looks at the Empyreans walking through the plaza, hoping that none of them take an interest in what they are doing. One of them does just as her Danger Sense pulses warning)

(the young-looking woman now walking toward Ladyhawk and Sage is dressed in a gold and red bodysuit with a scarlet cloak, is very tall, and appears to be of Asian descent. Her eyes are white and pupiless)

 **Empyrean Woman** : "Excuse me, may I ask what you are doing here?"

 **Ladyhawk** (internal monologue): [[gotta buy time for Vikon to finish his scan of the Temple...]]

(she takes off at a dead run, scattering a pack of marbles behind her as she does. She looks over her shoulder just in time to see the Empyrean woman shake her head sadly and levitate effortlessly over the marbles rolling across the plaza)

 **Ladyhawk** (internal monologue): [[well, THAT didn't work out...]]

 **Empyrean Woman** (mentally to Ladyhawk): ((JULIA DORMYER! Ashima the Enforcer requests and requires you to stop your pointless diversion before I take more... forceful means to stop you myself!))

(Ladyhawk stumbles to a stop just as Ashima drifts in front of her)

 **Ashima** : ((thank you. I require you and your Varanyi companion to come with me for questioning))

 **Ladyhawk** : "He's done nothing wrong!"

 **Ashima** : ((that will be for me to determine, not you))

(Sage stands up from where he has been sitting)

 **Sage** : ((Miss Dormyer speaks the truth))

 **Ashima** : ((mind-probing the inside of the Temple of Silence? At the very least, you have committed a rude breach of etiquette!))

 **Sage** : ((then allow me to accompany you and Miss Dormyer to your office while I notify Major Jameson to meet us there))

(tense pause, then Ashima nods)

 **Ashima** : ((that is agreeable to me, Prince Vikon. Follow me, please))

* * *

(Enforcer Ashima's office, The City of Gold. 15 minutes later)

(Ranger busts into the office, followed by Thelambra)

 **Ranger** (angry, to Ladyhawk): "We're not even living here THREE hours and you go and get yourself into trouble with the authorities!"

(tense pause)

 **Ashima** (to Ladyhawk): "You *were* waiting for Major Jameson to arrive before you spoke in your defense?"

 **Ladyhawk** : "I was walking through the city a little over an hour ago until my Danger Sense went off walking around the Temple of Silence."

 **Ranger** : "Oh? Concerning what, exactly?"

 **Ladyhawk** : "I wasn't sure. The impression I got was of something very wrong happening somewhere inside, powerful enough to drive me to my knees."

 **Ranger** : "Okay." (beat) "So how did Sage get involved in your incident?"

 **Ladyhawk** : "I went and got him so he could conduct a mind-probe of the Temple."

 **Ashima** : "Which by itself is a breach of our etiquette."

 **Ladyhawk** : "Enforcer Ashima took an interest in our activites before Vikon could complete his mind scan, so I tried to distract her to buy him more time to complete it."

 **Ashima** : "Unsuccessfully."

 **Sage** : "That is a matter of perspective."

 **Ranger** : "And what do YOU have to add in your defense?"

 **Sage** : "Zorran the Artificer is hiding out in the Temple of Silence."

(shocked pause, held gaze all around)

 **Ranger** (to the Empyreans in the room): "Well, now. That puts QUITE a different perspective on things, don't you think?"

 **Ashima** (flatly): "That's impossible. The Varanyi has been misled."

 **Sage** : "I fought Zorran for control of Megaterak in Japan. Trust me, I can recognize his mental hologram when I sense it."

 **Ranger** : "What would it hurt to take a squad over to the Temple and verify what Sage has scanned?"

(tense pause)

 **Ashima** : "I will need to know everything you know about this Lemurian."

 **Ranger** : "Allow me to assemble the rest of my team. We can not only brief you about him, we can assist you in capturing him."

 **Ashima** : "This is acceptable to me." (beat) "But know this, Major Jameson. The *only* reason I am allowing your assistance is because of all your recent experience in fighting Zorran. Your team will be under MY direction for this mission."

 **Ranger** : "Understood."

* * *

(The Temple of Silence. Half an hour later)

(TASK FORCE, Thelambra, and Ashima are in front of the Temple's entrance)

 **Ashima** : "Remember, Prince Vikon. NO mental powers except at my express direction."

 **Sage** : "Then how are we to locate Zorran?"

 **Starforce** : "Oh, THAT won't be a problem."

 **Ranger** : "Your holographic processor?"

 **Starforce** : "It's in there. And *very* active."

 **Spiritual Warrior** : "Given Zorran's powers and his previous usage of the processor, this cannot be good."

 **Ranger** : "Ya THINK?"

(two older Empyreans come to the entrance to greet the party)

 **Empyrean** : "Greetings, Enforcer Ashima! I am Tramiel, and this is Dukar. How may we assist you today?"

 **Ashima** : "I and our lesser cousins need to search the Temple for a possession of theirs which was stolen from the outside world last week."

 **Tramiel** : "Do you know exactly where in the Temple?"

(Ashima looks at Starforce)

 **Starforce** : "15 meters up and to the left."

 **Tramiel** : "Second floor, the Meditation Centers. Empyreans who have chosen the way of Silence go there to prepare themselves for entry."

 **Ashima** : "Is there anyone currently there?"

 **Dukar** : "Galien. A child of the third generation who started the preparatory rituals three days ago."

 **Ladyhawk** : "Now THERE'S a suspiciously-familiar number."

 **Ashima** (to Ranger): "Mind explaining that reasoning, Major Jameson?"

 **Ranger** : "We lost track of Zorran in the human city of Tokyo, three days after breaking his control of the kaiju Megaterak."

 **Spiritual Warrior** : "Are you the only staff here?"

 **Dukar** : "We have the assistance of advanced robotic servitors provided us by Zadin the Engineer."

 **Starforce** : "Hm. Sounds like someone I'd like to meet."

 **Ladyhawk** : "I guess the Empyreans even have geeks. Who knew?"

(Starforce gives Ladyhawk a dirty glare)

(by now, they have reached the pyramid's elevator core. They enter, and begin to move up through the Temple)

 **Mr. Bassman** : "If you don't mind me askin' mon, what is Silence?"

 **Tramiel** : "A higher form of Reality, manipulatable by the will alone and accessible only from the Astral Plane."

 **Spiritual Warrior** : "How did your people discover this... realm?"

 **Tramiel** : "Shaderon, the temple's leader, discovered it nearly six thousand years ago. He has reported it to be a sort of heaven, where immortality is no longer a burden and boredom has been eliminated."

 **Dukar** : "Entering Silence removes one’s Earthly cares and opens incredible new vistas of exploration, insight, freedom and pleasure."

 **Starforce** (murmured yet singing): "I saw the Holy City, beside the Timeless Sea..."

 **Tramiel** (beat, brief use of telepathy): "Very poetic, Dr. Hawkins! And also not dissimilar to other descriptions Shaderon has given us when he returns from Silence."

(the doors open as Ladyhawk gives Starforce a puzzled aside glance)

 **Starforce** : "I sang it at Church once! Duh..."

 **Ranger** : "Cut the chatter. Sage, switchboard."

 **Ashima** : "Major Jameson, what do you think you're doing?"

 **Ranger** : "My apologies, Enforcer. It is our way of communicating securely when we are about to go in harm's way." (to Sage) "Please include the Enforcer on the link."

 **Sage** : ((done))

 **Ranger** : ((Starforce?))

 **Starforce** : ((to the right, 20 meters))

(tense pause as the party works its way cautiously down the corridor)

 **Starforce** : ((this door))

 **Tramiel** (murmured): "This is the meditation center we assigned to Galiel!"

 **Spiritual Warrior** (murmured): "Imagine that."

 **Ranger** : ((how do we enter?))

 **Ashima** (removing a device from her belt): ((this seal unlocks any door in Arcadia))

(she holds it up to the door. Nothing happens)

 **Starforce** : ((except for that one))

 **Ashima** (puzzled): ((that shouldn't have happened))

 **Ranger** : ((perhaps if we used more primitive methods of entry?))

 **Ashima** : ((by all means, Major))

 **Ranger** : ((Pastor, Bassman. You're up))

(Both Spiritual Warrior and Mr. Bassman nod. As Khereviel teleports into Spiritual Warrior's hand, Mr. Bassman inhales, and funny sensations crawl over everyone as he finds the door's resonant structural frequency)

 **Starforce** (monitoring with Human Tricorder powers): ((now, Pastor))

(one mighty blow from a bulked-up Spiritual Warrior wielding Khereviel is all it takes to destroy the door to Galien's meditation center. To the surprise of no one except the Empyreans, Zorran the Artificer is in it, working at Bob's stolen holographic processor. What looks to be a crude stone tablet with glowing runes on it rests on a table pedestal next to it, with glowing fiber-optic connections linking the pedestal and holographic processor)

 **Starforce** (to Zorran): "How now, Lemurian cow."

* * *

(The Temple of Silence. One second later)

(Zorran's got almost as massive a Danger Sense roll as Ladyhawk. He's not surprised in the least by what just happened)

 **Zorran** (touching the stone tablet while pointing at TASK FORCE + friends): "You thought you were surprising ME?!?"

 **Ladyhawk** (Danger Sense screaming as she dives for cover): "TAKE COVER!!"

(TASK FORCE scatters, as does Thelambra and Ashima. A shaft of energy springs from the stone tablet and transfixes Dukar, turning him instantly into stone)

(as if TASK FORCE didn't have enough problems that moment, there is a sudden and intense cross-fire of blaster bolts, courtesy of the robots which have just appeared at either end of the outside corridor)

 **Tramiel** (finally diving for cover): "But... but that's impossible!"

 **Ranger** (angry): "I have been hearing that phrase WAY too much from you Empyreans today!"

 **Starforce** (screaming, to Tramiel): "Have you people never been HACKED before?!?"

(Ranger destroys half the robots to TASK FORCE's right with a move-by sweep)

(Mr. Bassman destroys the rest of the robots to their right with an area-effect sonic ranged killing attack)

(Starforce takes out one of the robots to their left with a Force Spear)

(Ladyhawk takes out another robot to their left with three shuriken and a thermite pellet)

(Spiritual Warrior points Khereviel. Another robot to their left is annihilated)

 **Ashima** : ((Prince Vikon! Attack Zorran!!))

 **Sage** : ((on it))

(the ward between Zorran and TASK FORCE sparkles with the Mental Blasts Ashima and Sage launch against him)

 **Zorran** (contemptuously, extending his hand towards TASK FORCE): "That was futile."

(TASK FORCE [minus Ladyhawk, who parkour'ed out of the way of the attack] plus Ashima and Tramiel now find themselves immobilized in energy bonds)

 **Ladyhawk** (furious): "LET MY TEAMMATES GO!"

 **Zorran** : "Make me."

 **Ladyhawk** : "I've beaten you before. I can beat you again."

 **Zorran** : "You *tricked* me before. Both the semantic and tactical differences are not insignificant." (beat, smiles) "A smoke grenade, marbles, and Ventriloquism can only fool me once, my lady. And the Temple of Silence is not the Tokyo Tower."

(tense pause, held gaze)

 **Ranger** (to Zorran): "Aren't you going to tell us what your Evil Master Plan is going to be?"

 **Zorran** : "Why should I?"

 **Ranger** : "Because it's traditional."

 **Zorran** : "Oh, I suppose. It's not like you're capable of stopping me, right now." (beat) "The Empyreans have assembled a few hunderd of their most powerful adepts here in the Temple of Silence, thinking they were achieving Paradise. I've merely taken advantage of their folly."

 **Ranger** : "So what are you ACUTUALLY doing with them?"

 **Zorran** : "I'll be using them to conquer the Earth!"

 **Spiritual Warrior** : "HOW?!?"

 **Zorran** : "All the Empyreans who have surrendered themselves to Silence are nothing more than a gigantic psychic battery to me!!" (beat, twirls dementedly) "With the Holographic Processor controlling and modulating the Philosopher's Stone, none can stand against my ultimate power!!"

 **Starforce** (internal monologue): [[think think THINK...]]

(it's then that he notices the power cord for the holographic processor is outside of Zorran's ward)

 **Starforce** (internal monologue): [[you have GOT to be KIDDING ME!]] (screamed) "LADYHAWK! CUT THE POWER CORD!"

 **Ladyhawk** : "How am I... wait!!"

(she produces a shuriken from her utility belt)

 **Ladyhawk** : "It's my last one!!"

 **Ranger** (now understanding where Starforce is going): "MAKE IT COUNT!"

(Ladyhawk throws, but Zorran is way ahead of them)

 **Zorran** : "Seriously?!?"

(the forcewall extends to protect the power cord barely in time to stop the shuriken)

(a halo of power glows around Thelambra's head. The shuriken inexplicably riccochets straight up, clearing the upper edge of the forcewall. Plunging now on the forcewall's other side, it severs the power cord to the holographic processor)

(the Entangle holding TASK FORCE and friends in place suddenly vanishes)

 **Starforce** (in disbelief): "Just like you practiced it, Ninjette?"

 **Ladyhawk** (also in disbelief): "That shouldn't have happened..."

 **Mr. Bassman** (pointing): "Uh, guys?"

(he's pointing at Zorran, in the middle of the ward he had scribed into the Meditation Center's floor. The expression of power-mad glee on his face is slowly giving way to one of abject terror)

 **Zorran** (looking at something TASK FORCE cannot see): "No... NO! STAY AWAY FROM ME, RASTRINFHAR!!"

(with a blood-curdling scream of sheer terror, he collapses to the floor, almost like a marionette whose strings have been cut. The ward shielding him from TASK FORCE flickers and depowers)

(TASK FORCE runs up to surround Zorran's body. His face is frozen in his last rictus scream, his eyes wide open but unseeing)

 **Mr. Bassman** (beat): "Can someone explain to me what just happened?"

 **Starforce** : "Zorran discovered that karma's a bitch?"

(Ladyhawk elbows Starforce)

* * *

(Palace of the Empyreans. One hour later)

(Crown Prince Archon is meeting with Ashima, Thelambra, and TASK FORCE)

 **Archon** : "TASK FORCE, the Empyreans owe you a debt of gratitude which we will be hard-pressed to repay."

 **Ranger** : "Thank you." (beat) "What happened to Zorran?"

 **Archon** : "We're not quite sure. Perhaps some feedback from the Dimension of Silence which incapacitated him?"

 **Spiritual Warrior** : "What is to become of him?"

 **Archon** : "He is not Empyrean. He will eventually wither and die, like your kind does."

 **Mr. Bassman** : "That's cold, mon!"

 **Archon** : "There is a lot about the dimension of Silence we do not understand, even six millenia after Shaderon's discovery of it." (beat) "What Zorran attempted to do with Silence is beyond our current understanding of it, as well."

(awkward pause, held gaze)

 **Ranger** : "What about the artifacts found in Zorran's possession?"

 **Archon** : "The fragment of the Mandragalore and the technical device?"

 **Ranger** (beat): "Yes."

 **Starforce** (beat): "Zorran called the tablet the Philosopher's Stone, if I remember the PRIMUS Superhuman Survey correctly."

 **Archon** : "It is two fragments of a much larger Lemurian artifact from over 70,000 years ago, which contributed to the Great Cataclysm of that era. Power like that should not be available to anyone."

 **Ranger** : "Even yourselves?"

 **Archon** : "Even ourselves." (beat) "Having said that, it is still far better to lock the Philosopher's Stone up here in Arcadia than anywhere else."

 **Starforce** : "And the Holographic processor?"

 **Archon** : "Because of Zorran's influence over it the past week, we cannot allow that to return to the outside world, either."

(tense pause, held gaze between Starforce and Archon)

 **Starforce** : "Fair enough."

(long pause, held gaze between Archon and Ranger)

 **Ranger** : "Perhaps in light of recent events, you can reconsider TASK FORCE's imprisonment here in Arcadia?"

 **Thelambra** (beat, to Archon): "I have no doubt that TASK FORCE can keep our secret and maintain the Facade!"

 **Archon** : "My father does not."

 **Ranger** : "May I recommend an alternative?"

 **Archon** (beat): "What did you have in mind, Major Jameson?"

 **Ranger** : "Wipe our minds of our experiences here in the Valley of Arcadia."

 **Thelambra** (shocked): "Ted, no!"

 **Ranger** (sad smile, to Thelambra): "Arcadia is nice, even seductive." (beat, then firm to Archon) "We all have lives in the outside world, though."

 **Archon** : "You would be willing to have us wipe your memories of your experiences here?"

(Ranger looks around at the rest of TASK FORCE. Everyone else nods assent)

 **Ranger** : "Yes."

(long pause held gaze)

 **Archon** : "You have all had a long day, and have saved our people from an evil which we were unaware had infiltrated us." (beat) "Meet us at your airplane in six hours."

 **Ranger** : "Thank you."

* * *

(ProStar 317. Six hours later)

(thanks to the efforts of several telekinetic Empyreans, the Gulfstream is now facing the other way down the road on which it landed. TASK FORCE prepares to board the Gulfstream for their return to the outside world as Ashima and Thelambra watch)

 **Ladyhawk** (to Ranger): "Thank you for allowing me another day of crew rest."

 **Ranger** : "I want to be able to get back home alive." (beat) "Don't you?"

 **Starforce** (to Ladyhawk while walking up): "The Empyreans have allowed me to access weather satellites. McMurdo's socked in with weather. So will Amundsen-Scott if we don't take off within the next 15 minutes."

 **Ladyhawk** : "So it's Plan B, then, for our extraction?"

 **Starforce** : "Seems like it."(beat) "Unless we decide to wait another couple of days."

 **Ashima** : "Unacceptable."

 **Ranger** (beat): "Right."

 **Ladyhawk** (looking at the rest of TASK FORCE): "Saddle up, guys!"

(TASK FORCE begins to board the Gulfstream)

 **Ranger** (to the Empyreans): "When will the mind-wipe take effect?"

 **Ashima** : "About an hour after take-off." (beat) "What happens after that is YOUR problem."

 **Ranger** : "Thank you. I think."

 **Thelambra** (to Ranger): "Thank YOU for preserving the Facade."

(beat, then Ranger passionately kisses Thelambra. Long pause, then he boards the Gulfstream)

 **Ranger** (to the cockpit): "Light 'em up!"

 **Ladyhawk** : "On it."

* * *

(ProStar 317. Approximately 89 degrees south, 55 degrees east. 90 minutes later)

(Ladyhawk gasps, then looks around her in shock)

 **Ladyhawk** : "What the HELL?!?"

(Starforce has just done the same thing in the co-pilot's station)

 **Starforce** : "What you said!"

 **Ladyhawk** : "Didn't we just take off from McMurdo?"

 **Starforce** : "If we did, WHY is the timestamp on my cockpit readouts 24 hours later?!?"

(shocked pause, held gaze)

 **Ladyhawk** : "Where have we BEEN? And more important, what did we DO?!?"

 **Starforce** (looking at his panel): "Something that required you to firewall the engines after we got done?"

(shocked pause, while Ladyhawk looks at her panel)

 **Ladyhawk** : "Our engines aren't going to handle *this* speed for TOO much longer..."

(right on cue, an explosion kicks the Gulfstream in the tail. It immediately attempts to yaw violently to the left)

 **Ladyhawk** (catching the plane before it goes out of control): "Oh, NO you don't!"

 **Starforce** : "Port engine shows on fire!

 **Ladyhawk** (briefly looking out her side window): "You THINK?!? Hit the extinguishers for the port engine!"

 **Starforce** (flipping switches): "Got it."

(there is a roar of something being dumped through the shattered port engine, then silence. Too much silence)

 **Ladyhawk** : "Nerd-boy, you didn't extinguish the STARBOARD engine, too, did you?"

 **Starforce** : "I hit the switches for the port engine *only*, just like you told me to!"

 **Ladyhawk** : "Probably cut out when we tried to go out of control after the explosion. Restart it!"

(the starboard engine whines repeatedly, but refuses to catch after several attempts)

 **Starforce** (frantically flipping switches): "Starboard engine's not responding!"

 **Ladyhawk** : "Just great! I'm flying a GLIDER now!!"

 **Starforce** (Lightning Calculator mode): "Wait a minute. Given the glide ratio of a Gulfstream IV, a down angle of 3.9 degrees starting from 30,000 feet above sea level *should* give us a glide range of 82 miles before we reach sea level! We'll make it to Amundsen-Scott easy-peasy, Ninjette!"

 **Ladyhawk** : "There's only one problem with that, Nerd-boy."

 **Starforce** : "What?"

 **Ladyhawk** : "Amundsen-Scott is 9,300 feet above sea level."

(awkward pause)

 **Starforce** : "Well, CRAP!"

 **Ladyhawk** (looking out the cockpit windows): "Which doesn't even take into consideration the BLIZZARD we're about to fly through!"

 **Starforce** (looking out the cockpit windows, in sheer disbelief): "Well, this won't end well."

 **Ladyhawk** : "Can your suit radio reach Amundsen-Scott from here?"

 **Starforce** : "As long as we're at altitude and I put full power into my transmitter!"

 **Ladyhawk** : "Do it!"

 **Starforce** (hand up to one ear): "Mayday! Mayday! ProStar 317, 60 miles north of Amundsen-Scott! Both engines out and weather dead ahead! Mayday, Mayday..."

(the first gust of the approaching blizzard slams into the Gulfstream. Ladyhawk struggles with the controls)

* * *

(ProStar 317. 30 minutes later)

(The Gulfstream has crashed in the middle of a howling blizzard. Cabin integrity has been compromised; Snow occasionally gets blown into the cabin as a gust of wind hits the remains of the Gulfstream at the [in]correct angle. TASK FORCE is huddled under thermal blankets that are increasingly ineffective in the current environment in which they find themselves)

(Ladyhawk and Starforce are under one blanket just outside the remains of the cockpit, shivering)

 **Ladyhawk** : "N-Nerd B-boy you f-fool. Why'd y-you t-turn off y-your f-force f-field?"

 **Starforce** : "To s-share y-your f-fate."

(long pause, held gaze)

 **Starforce** : "J-julie?"

 **Ladyhawk** : "B-bob?"

 **Starforce** : "I h-have s-something t-to t-tell you..."

 **Ladyhawk** (holding Starforce tighter, looking into his eyes): "W-what?"

(instead of bringing her face close to his, Starforce points to the door of the Gulfstream)

 **Starforce** : "Th-the r-rescue p-party is h-here."

* * *

(Amundsen-Scott Research Station, Antarctica. Six hours later)

(TASK FORCE thaws out in a lounge under the main dome of the base. The station commander walks in on them)

 **Commander** : "You guys should all make complete recoveries. You're fortunate that Dr. Baalke and his team happened to be within a couple of miles of the crash site when you came down."

 **Ranger** : "What were they doing out in the middle of a blizzard?"

 **Commander** : "Stress test on prototype life support equipment, for whenever we decide to go to Mars. The Antarctic winter is about as hostile as you can get without leaving the Earth." (beat) "It also meant we had crews on standby in case *his* team needed to be rescued."

 **Spiritual Warrior** : "That was... extremely fortunate."

 **Ladyhawk** (to the commander): "So are we stuck here until the end of winter?"

 **Commander** : "As soon as the weather clears here and at McMurdo, the Navy's sending one of their ski-equipped C-130's by request of PRIMUS to medevac you back stateside."

 **Ladyhawk** (beat, furtive aside glance at Starforce): "Oh."

 **Commander** : "Keep warm, recover, relax, and we'll let you know when the Navy's on the way."

 **Ranger** : "Thank you."

(the commander leaves)

 **Ranger** : "Does ANYONE remember what happened between the time we took off from McMurdo and and the time we came to before we lost the engines?"

(tense pause, while everyone shakes their heads 'no')

 **Ranger** : "Starforce, anything from the flight recorder?"

 **Starforce** : "The flight recorder cuts out five minutes after our takeoff from McMurdo and doesn't have a THING on it until five minutes before the port engine blew up."

 **Ranger** : "Were we circling in the air for a full DAY over Antarctica?"

 **Ladyhawk** : "The Gulfstream doesn't have that much fuel. We had to have landed somewhere."

 **Spiritual Warrior** : "And done WHAT?"

 **Ladyhawk** : "Something requiring me to firewall the engines on our return leg?"

 **Mr. Bassman** : "I thought we were going back to McMurdo on our return leg."

 **Ladyhawk** : "Socked in with weather, just like the South Pole station is right now." (beat) "If anything, it was almost like I was trying to beat the weather HERE."

 **Starforce** : "Which would have required us to have some knowledge of weather conditions before we all came to."

 **Ranger** (to Sage): "Sage, anything?"

 **Sage** : "I have the same blank spot in my memories that the rest of you do."

 **Ranger** : "Could something or someone have wiped our memories of what we did yesterday?"

 **Sage** : "If that is so, I can tell you that it happened voluntarily. Forced amnesia would leave trace effects and memory fragments, neither of which I am seeing in the rest of you."

 **Mr. Bassman** (beat): "So what do we do?"

 **Ranger** : "Enjoy the station's hospitality until the weather lifts and we can go home."

 **Spiritual Warrior** : "What about Zorran?"

 **Starforce** : "And my holographic processor?"

 **Ranger** (beat): "We might have to accept that none of us will ever know what happened yesterday."

(awkward pause)

* * *

**EPILOGUE** : PRIMUS HQ, Washington DC. It is June, 1999

(An intercom buzzes on a desk. Ted answers it)

 **Intercom** : "Director, your one o'clock is here."

 **Ranger** : "Send her in."

(Ted is older, in Army uniform, and wearing the two stars of Major-General's rank. The door opens, and Thelambra walks in [Thelambra's leitmotif starts here again, if you want the soundtrack])

 **Thelambra** (offers hand): "General, I'm Olivia d'Alembert. Thank you for offering the assistance of your agency to help me study for my movie role."

 **Ranger** (shakes hand): "Ted Jameson, director of PRIMUS. The pleasure is mine."

(long pause, held gaze. Their eyes are wide, and their hands are still clasped)

 **Ranger** : "Have we met?"

* * *

(fin)

**Author's Note:**

>  **AUTHOR'S NOTE** (Also doubles as a **Spoiler Warning** ): For the benefit of those readers who do not have access to the supplement "Hidden Lands," Silence isn't... quite... what the Empyreans have been led to believe. Zorran found this out the hard way when feedback/backlash from the forces he was attempting to manipulate pulled him into Silence as well.


End file.
